PDS Science Olympiad: a team of bright, scientific minds has recently brought home several wins for the PDS community. The team competes in different events that revolve around various areas of science such as cell biology, anatomy and physiology, astronomy, and “WiFi Lab.” These events are typically either a complex written assessment or creating a tangible device or contraption that directly relates to a specific area of science. In past years, the team has done well at competitions; however, this season, they have exceeded expectations by winning several awards at their first competition of the season: the New Jersey Science Olympiad Regionals.

The Regionals competition was composed of some of the best New Jersey High School School Science Olympiad (SciOly) teams and created some heavy competition for the PDS team. Although the competition was rigorous and exacting, our peers persevered through the entirety of the event. Due to their hard work, they brought home a plethora of awards, including:

1st Place:
Danielle Im and Jason Wu, Chemistry Lab

2nd Place:
Evan Lin and Nav Rajan, Wifi Lab
Danielle Im and Evan Lin, Disease Detectives

3rd Place:
Daniel Caruso and Conner Lee, Anatomy and Physiology
Adrien Cristian and Sam Elkin, Astronomy
Evan Lin and Sid Patel, Cell Biology

5th Place:
Jai Kasera and Conner Lee, Write It, Do It

6th Place:
Adrien Cristian and Jaylen Peng, Bridge

This competition left a positive impression on the newest members of the Upper School SciOly team. Freshman Riya Mani comments, “It was a bit challenging but still nice, and I’m excited to go to more competitive levels like Invitationals and states. The environment was very welcoming and made me excited to participate in future events.” Fellow freshman Daniel Caruso agreed, saying that “Regionals went well for the PDS team and was a good experience!” Overall, it is clear that the new members of the SciOly team feel excited and prepared to move onto future competitions.

The team has two major competitions coming up: Princeton University Invitationals and the New Jersey State Competition. The team qualified for the State Tournament in March because of their third place overall finish at the regional competition. Before that, however, the team will send a batch of members to the Princeton Invitational in February. Although this competition is known to be competitive, junior and co-head of the team, Evan Lin, says that the team is prepared to meet the challenge head-on: “It’s difficult but it is also a good experience, as there are lots of teams and you get to have fun and compete with lots of people.”